Citation

Niu H, Liu L, Wang M. Child Abuse Negl. 2018; 79: 1-10.

Affiliation

Shandong Normal University, Department of Psychology, PR China. Electronic address: meifangw@hotmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.01.017

PMID

29407851

Abstract

The present study examined the intergenerational transmission of harsh discipline (psychological aggression and corporal punishment) and the moderating effects of parenting stress and parent gender in Chinese societies. Utilizing a sample of 634 Chinese father-mother dyads with preschoolers, findings revealed that both mothers' and fathers' harsh discipline were transmitted across generations and the strength of transmission varied by the severity of harsh discipline and the parent gender. For both mothers and fathers, high parenting stress intensified the intergenerational transmission of psychological aggression and corporal punishment, whereas low parenting stress weakened the transmission of psychological aggression and even disrupted the transmission of corporal punishment. Moreover, the moderating effects of parenting stress on the transmission were stronger for mothers than for fathers.

FINDINGS from the present study highlight the importance of considering how the proximal environmental factors (such as parenting stress) may influence the intergenerational transmission of harsh discipline.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Corporal punishment; Harsh discipline; Intergenerational transmission; Parenting stress; Psychological aggression